Scapegoat
by JacquelineKennedy
Summary: "The Congress is going to need a scapegoat to blame and everything indicates that it's going to be you". Follows Natasha, Steve, Clint and the rest of the Avengers after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: TWS.
1. Chapter 1

**This happens just after the final battle of the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. **

**English is not my first language, so please excuse any grammar mist****akes :) I usually spellcheck everything I write twenty times, but it takes a lot of time and effort to do that. In order for me to post more often I ask you kindly to ignore any mistakes in the next chapters. **

**Sadly I don`t own the Avengers or any other Marvel character.**

* * *

Natasha let out a deep breath as the doors to the small elevator closed. She pressed the button to the top floor and rested her head on the metallic wall. With a quick glance at the mirror inside the elevator she confirmed her suspicions: she looked terrible. Her hair was a mess, her skin tone was too pale and she had dark circles under emerald her eyes. Oh, and she could see a nasty bruise starting to form on her chin where her head hit the floor as a result of electrocuting herself to allow Fury to kill Pierce. _'Well, that is the price for saving the world, Natasha' _she sarcastically reassured herself in her mind.

She looked horrible and felt even worst. She had a splitting headache, her whole body was stiff and the gunshot wound on her shoulder was hurting as hell. _'Thanks again Winter Soldier for yet another beautiful scar'_.

The elevator announced its arrival with a 'ding' and Natasha was pulled away from her thoughts. She exited to the corridor and swiftly made her way to the last door on the right praying to avoid any neighbor. When she dumped all of SHIELDs files on the Internet she bought an instant ticket to stardom. Wanting it or not, she was now a celebrity and, after living her whole life in the shadows, that terrified her far more than aliens or even the Hulk.

Yesterday she and Sam Wilson had rescued Steve from the side of the Potomac River and took him to the hospital. As they waited for news on him she could already feel the tension on the air. Of course the release of the SHIELDs files would be covered worldwide. It was everywhere: TVs, newspaper, the Internet. Everyone was talking about it and everyone was recognizing her. Even after NY, she was able to keep her true identity on the shadows. Everybody knew about the Black Widow, she was an Avenger after all. They even made Black Widow action figures to sell on the stores. But nobody knew that the Black Widow was actually the SHIELD agent Natasha Romanoff: Red Room trained spy, ex-KGB, assassin… murderer. Before all they knew was that the Black Widow was a woman with red hair who could kick-ass and that she was an Avenger. Now they had her file with her American name, her Russian name, all of her missions, all of the people she murdered for SHIELD and… oh God, some intel on her dark past with KGB and the Red Room. Thank God her whole file – the one with all of her past - was never on the system, Fury had deleted it when she had joined SHIELD: a kind of "new start = blank sheet" thing. Right now she was VERY grateful for it.

As she waited for the update on Steve she could see everyone looking at her direction with fear, curiosity, suspicion, indecision. Every single doctor, nurse or patient. She even saw some teenagers trying to take a photo of her with their phones. Sam didn`t seem to notice this, he was too worried about Captain America.

After she had made sure that Steve was going to be ok and that Sam was protecting him, she left the hospital in a hurry and went directly to her safe house. Well, her and Clint`s safe house, technically. They had bought the small apartment with cash, no ties to SHIELD or their real identities. Nobody knew about it besides her or him. It was the only safe place right now.

As she closed the door behind her and disarmed the super secure alarm system, she let out another deep breath and felt a wave o distress overwhelm her. _'What will Steve think of me when he awakes up and read my file? What is the world already thinking? You are a cold murderer. You`ve done things, bad things. You are a bad person, an evil person. Everyone is going to hate you… No. I can`t think of that. Breath… slowly. Keep cool. Don`t you dare panic'_ her mind kept telling her. A reminder of the Red Room training: don`t show emotions, don`t feel anything.

After calming herself and distancing her mind of that line of thoughts, she went straight to the bedroom to check if her belongings were there. It was not decorated, only two single beds stood on the middle of the room. Under her bed she found her duffle bag: guns, ammunition, change of clothes, disposable cell phone, money and documents for an alias not known by SHIELD or anyone. It was all there.

She took one of her guns and some clean clothes and walked to the bathroom. She needed a long, steamy hot shower to drown her erratic thoughts and take away all the remains of the fight.

While in the shower, it took her almost ten minutes to wash away all the blood on her hands… Steve`s blood. As she cleaned it her mind went to the super soldier and how close he got to death. _'Oh Steve…'. _They had become somewhat friends after being partnered together and after the last events she considered him one of the only true friends she had.

That thought led her to think about her other true friend, Clint. When she was posting SHIELDs data base on the Internet she had time to delete only one thing from it: Clint`s file. She knew he was on a dangerous undercover mission and getting his identity out right now could risk his life. She contemplated using the time to delete her file, but she was safe in Washington and he wasn`t, so the contemplation didn`t last longer than a second.

After the long shower she put on some old shorts and a grey t-shirt she had stolen from Clint years ago. She ate a granola bar she had stocked at the apartment for any emergency and drank a whole bottle of water. After, she sent a text to Sam using her new burner phone:

"Hi Sam. How is he doing? N."

"Better. They r taking him out of induced coma tmmrw"

"I`ll be at the hospital 11am tmmrw"

"Ok. Do u need anything?"

"No thanks. Call me in case of an emergency"

"Sure"

She checked every lock on the apartment and the alarm system for precaution and took her battered body to bed.

After a sleepless night filled with worried thoughts Natasha got up early in the morning and put on some clean clothes from her emergency bag. The thought of going out and being recognized was enough to make her stomach swirl so she skipped breakfast. She put on her sunglasses and tied her hair back, trying to change her appearance as much as possible with little to none resources. '_It would be much simpler if the face changing device I used to infiltrate as a Council member earlier was still working'_. With a quick check on the mirror, she left the safe house to meet Maria Hill and discuss their next steps.

Natasha arrived early at the meeting point they had designated the day before, a public bench at a park close to the Capitol Hill. She had used some of her best blending technics and nobody had recognized her on the way over, not even the taxi driver.

Natasha waited and not five minutes after a black sedan approached and parked close by. Maria Hill exited the car wearing plain civilian clothes and bringing with her two Starbucks cups. Natasha smiled and gladly took one of the cups.

"Good morning, Natasha". Hill seated beside her on the bench.

"Good morning, Maria".

That was the first time the two women referred to each other by their first names - in SHIELD it was always Agent Hill and Agent Romanoff. Maria seemed to enjoy the view of the small park in the morning light before speaking.

"We need to do some damage control".

"I don`t see how that would work. Everything is out there, Maria. Everything" she took a glance at the other woman. Hill was a good spy, one of the best even and she did a good job seeming distant and emotionless most of the time – her job required it. But Natasha could read her like an open book that morning; she seemed tense and exhausted, probably just like Natasha herself.

"I`m not talking about Shield, that is over. I`m talking about you" she took a sip of her coffee.

"Me? What about yourself? You were second on command after Fury".

"I`ll find another job, maybe even for Stark Industries, who knows. Trust me, nobody is paying attention to me when the true identity of the infamous Black Widow, member of the Avengers, just hit the Internet. Well, of course they are talking about Hydra too, but you are the superstar now… it`s you that everyone is talking about".

Natasha visibly flinched. "I wouldn`t know as I`m not watching the news. And I don`t plan to start". After a moment she asked out of curiosity. "Is it too bad?".

"Some of it is, some of it not so much, and some people are even defending you. So, it depends". Hill responded cryptically, not wanting to be the one to tell Natasha Romanoff the bad things people were saying about her on the TV.

Natasha stood still for a few moments considering her next moves. "I think the toy industry will loose a lot of money as there are a lot of Black Widow action figures at the stores and no one will buy them anymore".

Maria smiled a little at the other woman dark sense of humor. "I`m serious, Romanoff. I`ve been talking to Fury and we are not going to let you take all the heat alone. The Congress is going to need a scapegoat to blame and everything indicates that it`s going to be you".

"I can handle the Congress. Besides, now that there is no SHIELD there`s nothing you can do, Maria… Or Fury".

"Well, maybe not us but Tony Stark can help you. Have you talked to him? Or Steve. Everyone loves Captain America, his support could be good for your image".

Natasha scoffed at the suggestion. "I`m not going to ask Stark for help and Steve needs to worry only about his recovery". If Natasha was being really honest she wasn`t avoiding the help of the other Avengers out of pride or concern, she was afraid. Afraid of what they would think after reading her file and seeing all the atrocities she had done. '_Tony might get over it someday but_ _Steve is a good man, an honorable man… he will despise you'._

"You should" was Maria`s only response.

Minutes passed and Maria Hill finished her coffee. She gave Natasha a small white paper with her cellphone number written on it. "Do you have a secure number so I can contact you?".

Natasha got Hill`s cellphone and typed in the number of her burner phone. "Have you heard anything about Clint?" she asked as she returned the phone.

"No, nothing yet. If I hear something you`ll be the first one to know. Oh, and by the way, nicely done to delete his file. You might have saved his life".

"Thank you, Maria. For everything".

The other woman smiled to her briefly and walked away to her car. Natasha took another fifteen minutes to finish her coffee, collect her somber thoughts and walk away from the park in the direction of the hospital.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! ****I really hope you liked it. Should I continue? Please leave a review :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**I took the liberty of changing small things from the movie. I hope you don`t mind :)**

* * *

The glass of scotch shattered into a million little pieces as Tony Stark dropped it into the floor. His mouth was hanging wide open as he watched the News on the large screen.

"Jarvis, put the volume up".

The artificial intelligent program obeyed and the voice of the reporter filled the room. Tony watched the footage of two giant Helicarriers falling into the Potomac River.

"… _leaked SHIELD`s entire database in order to expose the terrorist group named HYDRA that had infiltrated the secret agency and almost killed 20 million of civilians. Early reports show that Captain America is out of surgery… "._

Ignoring the broken glass crunching under his shoes, Tony typed a few commands on his holographic keyboard and many Internet pages appeared on his screen. His eyes scanned the information as fast as possible and his mind had a hard time processing everything.

"… _Alexander Pierce, member of the World Security Council and mentor of what was called Project Insight, was found dead…"._

"… _Yesterday Steve Rodgers was severely injured after fighting against HYDRA`s assassin called the Winter Soldier…"._

"… _shocking revelation of the true identity of the Avenger`s member, Black Widow, as the ex-KGB spy and assassin, Natalia Alianova Romanova…"._

"… _events followed the death of the director of SHIELD, Nick Fury…"._

After a small pause Tony effortlessly hacked into the database of the closest hospital to the Triskelion and found Steve`s medical records: multiple shot wounds, lacerations, out of surgery, in recovery. He let out a deep breath of relieve, Steve apparently was going to make it. _'Thank God, you freaking lucky Capsicle'_.

He ran a nervous hand trough his hair already plotting his next actions.

"Pepper!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Pepper! Jarvis, where the fuck is Pepper?"

"What, Tony? I`m here". She waked in the room holding a cup of tea and still wearing her work clothes. Her face was neutral, a little annoyed even, as this was a normal behavior for Tony. But as her eyes scanned the room and found the broken glass on the floor and Tony astonished expression and she instantly got worried.

"HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD. Romanoff leaked every single file from their database into the Internet and Rogers is in the hospital".

"What?". She hurried to his side and started reading the news. Her mouth fell open the same way Tony`s had done before.

"Oh my God, Tony. How is Steve?".

"I just checked with the hospital, he is going to make it".

Relieve showed in her face. "What are we going to do? Should we go to DC? I can have the jet ready in a hour".

"No, not right now. We are more effective acting from here. Rogers is out of surgery and he will be out for some time. I don`t think Romanoff was injured, there was no record of her being admitted to the hospital."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to warn Banner, Barton and Thor". Pepper nodded, grabbed her Stark`s Industries phone and started typing the encrypted message. "Jarvis, start going trough the leaked files, I need to know how we got a hold of SHIELD`s database two years ago and didn`t suspect anything".

"Yes, sir".

Tony took his phone out of his pocket and dialed Natasha`s number. It went straight to voice mail. _'After everything, she must have disconnected it. Maybe she is with Steve'_. He tried the soldier`s cellphone and it also went to voice mail.

"Jarvis, I`m going to need another number, find me one".

* * *

Steve Rodgers was thirsty. That`s the first thing he felt. He tried to move his mouth but his lips were cracked and his tongue was dry. _'Where am I? What happened?'_ His mind was foggy and he was disoriented. The last thing he remembered was drowning. But why was he drowning?

Suddenly he started to hear a steady beeping: beep, beep, beep… a heart monitor? Was he at a hospital? '_What the hell happened?'_ That`s when all the memories came back: the helicarrier, Bucky, falling into the cold water of the Potomac River… '_Oh my God…'._ He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were too heavy. He tried to move his hands but his body was not responding. That`s when he panicked. Almost immediately the heart monitor started beeping loudly and faster. He could feel his breaths coming faster and shorter.

"Steve". He heard a voice with a pleading tone attached to it, a woman`s voice. Peggy? No, Peggy was from another time.

"Calm down, Steve. You are safe". He knew that husky voice… Natasha.

"N.. Nat?".

"I`m here, Rodgers. Relax, focus on me. Can you open your eyes?".

He tried again and this time his eyelids complied. '_Ouch!_ _Light, too much light!'_ He closed his eyes for a few more seconds before opening them again, this time slower. As his pupils adjusted he could see an unfamiliar white ceiling. He moved his head a little and found two green eyes fixed on him.

"Hi". Natasha said timidly, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.

His tongue tried to wet his lips and he blinked a few times. "Hi… water?"

She got up from her seat beside his bed and he felt her hand leaving his. '_Was she holding my hand as I was passed out?'_ Before Steve could process that information, Natasha returned with a white cupboard full of water.

"Drink slowly, Cap". She ordered.

He did and felt a little better as the water poured down his throat.

"What happened?". He fixed his ocean blue eyes on her, trying to get a read.

"We won. Your plan worked".

He let out a deep breath of relieve. That was when he felt a sharp pain on his chest. He automatically moaned and grabbed blindly for his stomach.

Natasha seemed to notice his reaction. "You were shot by The Winter Soldier. Don`t you remember?".

Yes, the memories flooded his mind. He grimaced.

"You almost died but the super soldier serum saved your life. The doctors say you will need to rest for a couple more days but after that you will be as good as new, just a few more scars as souvenirs".

"Well, I guess now it`s bye-bye bikinis for me too". He joked and she laughed lightly. Steve was not used to her laugh but it was a nice sound.

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them". She said playfully and he smiled brightly in return. They kept their eyes glued on each other, both amused at the easy banter.

After a while Natasha diverted her gaze away and the smile disappeared from her lips. "Falcon will be here shortly. I made him leave so he could get a proper bath and some change of clothes. He hasn`t left your side since they allowed him to be here".

Steve smiled and closed his eyes again. "How long…"

"You have been out for almost 24 hours".

He nodded and focused on trying to remember everything. The memories were coming back to him clearer this time. "Nat… He saved me". Natasha didn`t respond so Steve continued. "Bucky. He got me out of the water. I would have drowned if it wasn`t for him".

She removed her eyes from him and fixed them on the bed. She frowned a little before answering. "I know".

As he confirmed that the memory of Bucky saving him was indeed a memory and not a dream, a warm feeling invaded his body. Bucky was still Bucky! There was a part of him that was still good. Steve couldn`t suppress a smile to invade his features. As soon the smile appeared it vanished. '_How am I going to find him?'_. Natasha herself – super Russian spy – had said that the Winter Soldier was a ghost, impossible to find. Without SHIELD`s technology it will be indeed impossible and Steve was not in the mood to ask any favors to Tony Stark. At least not before he tried every other option first.

"I need to find him. I really do, Nat.".

"Maybe I can help. I still have some contacts and I can try to ask around for some information. But don`t get your hopes up because I don`t think they will be willing to help, specially now that I`ve been compromised". Her voice was low and her eyes were fixed on the bed. As her face was blank, Steve could not sense if she was upset or neutral. He hated her ability to not show emotions sometimes.

"How are you feeling about that?".

He could see her walls building up as her face tensed a little. "About throwing everything on the Internet? I don`t regret it, Steve. It was the best solution to expose HYDRA".

"But what about exposing yourself?". He insisted, not letting her get away with a non-answer.

She seemed troubled for a while before the blank mask took its place again. "I can deal with it". She answered shortly and he could sense the subject was over. After working for a year with her he knew she was good at hiding her feelings and that insisting only would make her mad.

Steve took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on the ceiling. Why everything involving Natasha Romanoff had to be so difficult? He knew a little about her dark past, but he could not understand why she had to hide herself behind so many masks and lies.

Everything about her was complicated. She tried too hard to seem emotionless and indifferent but Steve knew better. After spending almost a year working together for SHIELD he had seen behind her thick walls. And after the last couple of days he was sure that he could trust her with his life. He even considered himself her friend, and both of them were really conservative about making friends. So why would she always hide her emotions from him?

"You are awake!". Sam Wilson exclaimed from the door in perfect timing. He was wearing fresh clothes and carried a bag.

Steve smiled at the man. Sam was a loyal guy and had been a really welcome help. Even if Steve had a difficult time making friends in this new era of his life, here he was, surrounded by two real friends.

"Yes I am and in a few more days I will be outrunning you again".

"In your dreams, Cap". Sam smiled taking a seat at the little sofa on the corner of the hospital room. He put out a little white box from his gym bag and an IPod.

Suddenly Natasha got up from the chair beside Steve`s bed and started walking towards the door. "Well, since you are in good hands, I need to go now".

Steve felt an unfamiliar pang on his heart and opened his mouth to protest but Falcon was faster than him.

"Why? Where are you going?"

Natasha turned and fixed a cold stare on him. "Not that I owe you an explanation but Agent Hill asked me to deal with the aftermath of yesterday".

"Okay". Falcon didn`t seem bothered by Natasha`s almost rude answer. He started shuffling trough his IPod`s songs and got his feet up on the coffee table on the corner of the room making himself confortable.

"Will you come back?" Steve asked before Natasha could leave.

"Maybe… old man". She cryptically answered and a small smiled covered her lips as she slipped trough the door.

Sam stood still, eyes glued on the IPod for a couple of more minutes before speaking. "That is a scary and complicated woman right there, my friend".

Steve chuckled. "Aren`t all women scary and complicated?"

Sam busted out laughing. "Indeed they are".

Suddenly, for Steve`s admiration, music filled the room. It was coming from the small white box but it had no wires connected to it. Almost everyday the new technology surprised him. He closed his eyes and relaxed for the first time on the last couple of days.

**I hope you liked it! I have a lot more coming! Soon the Avengers will meet an enemy worst than any alien army... Soon! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

After leaving the hospital Natasha headed straight to the safe house stopping on the small market only for a few supplies. She tried her best to not be recognized, but it was almost impossible since her face was in every damn newspaper or magazine. At the market she kept her head low but she could see that the cashier`s hands were trembling when he handed her the change. At least the rest of the store was empty.

After locking the door of the apartment she headed for the kitchen and instantly opened the bottle of cheap vodka she had bought. Just what she needed to relax a little. She poured the strong drink into a small glass and drowned the contents in one single gulp. Not even flinching as the burning liquid descended her throat she poured another glass and drowned it too. She smiled amused. _'You can take the girl out of Russia but you can`t take the Russia out of the girl'_.

She headed to the bedroom, changed her clothes and sat on the bed, as there was no chair on the apartment. She ate a turkey sandwich and drank another shot of vodka. As she was finishing eating her meal the burner phone started to ring. An unknown number was calling and Natasha instantly picked it up.

"Hello".

"Hello, agent Romanoff… or should I say Natalia Alianova Romanova?". Tony Stark`s voice invaded her ears through the phone. She could picture him smiling while teasing her. "Wow, that is a mouthful!".

"Stark". Natasha growled. "This is a burner phone, how did you manage to get my number?".

"I have my ways little spider. I tried calling your old phone yesterday but it went straight to voice mail. And don`t worry because after I got your new number, I made it impossible for anyone else to get it".

"Well, thank you… I guess". She said in a strained voice. Of course she was grateful for the favor, but she was a little afraid to hear Tony`s ideas about her released file.

"Look, I`m not going to lie to you, Natasha. I had already read your file when I hacked into SHIELD`s database just before the alien invasion. I like to know whom I am working with and I`m not going to apologize". An awkward silence filled the conversation as Natasha was too stunned to even breath. _'Tony knew? All this time? He never said anything…'._

"Well, now that the cat is out of the bag I just wanted to say that…" she heard a female voice speak to Tony close to the phone. "Me and Pepper wanted to say that we are here for you. Whatever you need".

After another long pause Natasha quietly said the only thing that she was able to. "Thank you, Tony".

"Are you feeling ok spidey? That`s the second time you thanked me in a single conversation. The last time you thanked me for something was… hum, never actually. Not even when I got you that awesome Russian vodka".

"I`m good, Stark. And please thank Pepper too".

"Will do".

"And since we are having a gratefulness party thank you for the vodka too. It was nice, even if it was coming from you".

"Now that`s the Natasha I know". He chuckled a little but his voice took a somber turn as he continued. "So… I was not calling just to say that, even though this conversation was really entertaining. We kind of have a problem".

She sighted. "Great, another one. What is it?"

"I just received a notification from the Congress of the United States asking you and Captain Rodgers to testify in front of a Committee next Monday. I guess they sent it to the tower since no one knows where you are hiding".

After the talk she had with Maria she was expecting something like that. Natasha balanced her options but Tony interpreted her silence as an encouragement to go on. "I talked to my lawyer and he advised you to go since you are technically a Russian citizen on American soil and SHIELD is not here anymore to grant you a Green Card".

"I`ll think about it but Steve needs to rest. I`m not putting Captain America through an official hearing".

"They could deport you, they could arrest you. Of course we could take legal action, but I don`t think th…"

"I said I will think about it, Tony". She interjected abruptly.

"I heard you but I really think you should go, Natasha. If not because of the deportation problem go because it will be good to clear your image… and the Avengers image. Have you seen the TV lately? They are not saying good things about you or the team".

Tony`s words felt like a punch to her gut. "Oh, now I get it. Steve almost died, SHIELD has fallen, HIDRA almost killed 20 million people and you are concerned with the Avengers image?" she asked incredulously. Of course Tony Stark was not worried about her possible arrest or immigration problems, he was worried about the team image and himself - typical self-absorbed pigheaded Tony. She was amazed at how she was deceived by his first gentle approach. _'I`m loosing my touch'_ she thought while giving herself a mental slap.

"No, I was not…"

"Do you want a better image for the Avengers, Stark? Take a note from the Congress and expel me from the team. I`ll gladly be your scapegoat. I bet that would grant you the public approval again".

"Natas…" Tony tried to speak but she interjected again.

"It`s alright, Stark. I get it. Just call the damn Congress and tell them that I`ll be there since they asked nicely".

"You are making the right choice, Romanoff".

"We`ll see".

She hung up but needed a few minutes to cool down from the conversation. Tony Stark really knew how to push her buttons. She lay down on the bed. After a few breathing technics to achieve relaxation Natasha realized that maybe Tony was being honest, maybe he was indeed concerned for her. He seemed sincere when he had asked her if she were ok. Suddenly she felt like a jerk for acting so uptight. She owned Stark an apology.

And he was also not wrong about the team image. Everyone loved the Avengers as they represented hope and after NY every little kid wanted to be a superhero. She could understand that her dark past would put a shadow over the team, a flicker of doubt. She could see everyone thinking: why would the Avengers – Earth mighty heroes - let a Russian assassin who had killed hundreds in their team? Maybe they weren`t so pure and good hearted themselves.

'_What if I step down from the Avengers? Would that help?_'. No, that was a harsh decision to take right now. Right now what she really needed was to rest and to prepare herself for the hearing. Her eyes instantly fell on the bottle of vodka. _"Maybe just one more shot…"_. Before she made a move to grab the liquid a knock on the door disturbed her thoughts. In less than a second she was up, out of the room and her gun was pointed to the door. She heard the lock turning and watched a man enter the apartment.

"Clint!".

* * *

Steve was feeling better. A lot better actually. His wounds had started to heal and the doctor said he should be able to leave the hospital in a couple of days. Stark had sent a get better card and a group of bodyguards to help with the hospital security. Now that HYDRA was exposed all of the Avengers became instant targets. Banner and Thor had called, sending their best wishes. Bruce was somewhere in Africa and Thor was with Jane Foster. Steve was happy that they cared enough to send a hello.

He looked over to Sam who was searching for something to watch on the small TV. Suddenly a photo of him and a photo of Natasha appeared on the screen and he told Sam to go back to that channel.

A reporter was interviewing a gray haired man named Senator Hoffman.

"_Ladies and gentleman, we need to take immediate action against this horrible threat. Our worst enemies are inside our own house, they are living in our country and we are calling them our heroes"._ He snorted loudly. _"Do you think a true hero would have released all the files of our entire security agency online without even considering the consequences? Our agents are being butchered all around the globe! The confirmed death count just got to 34 American undercover agents murdered in cold blood the minute their true identity hit the Internet. And I`m not even getting into the international mess that the release of those files did since most of the secret SHIELD missions happened under other countries jurisdiction". _The man pointed a long finger to Natasha`s photo, his voice filled with disdain. _"And how can we call a cold murderer a hero? Have you seen her file? 134 confirmed kills! And that is just after she started working for SHIELD. Did you see the atrocities she had done while working for the KGB? Sao Paolo? Budapest? I`m disgusted and you should be too!"._

Steve could not believe what he was hearing. He flinched as the man went on and on with his witch-hunt.

"_Trust me, the world would be a better place if we locked that woman in a small dark cell and throw out the key. I don`t care if she helped us on the battle of NY. How can we be sure that she is not still working for the KGB? Oh, and what does that say about the Avengers themselves? How could they let this monster in their team? Maybe they are not the good superheroes we thought they were! Maybe they are as dark and twisted as her! I think we need to take action; they need to answer for their crimes! Even Captain America is not above the constitution! He is responsible for the death of every American agent when he gave the order to…"_

Sam turned the TV off and a thick silence took over the hospital room. Steve felt guilty. For the first time since the battle he truly stopped to think about the real consequences of his actions. He saved a lot o people but he also killed a lot of people. Was that the general opinion?

"They will get over it". Sam quietly said while fixing his eyes on the floor.

"What?"

Sam looked him in the eyes. "The public. They will get over this. They will remember that you are a hero, Steve".

"I`m not sure about that, Sam. From my experience everybody love to build a hero and then to take him down and watch him burn. And you know, maybe he is right about me. Maybe I am responsible for those deaths".

"No your not. You gave everything to this country, this planet. You lost a lot trying to save us. You are a hero!".

Steve sighted. "I just hope Natasha was not watching this".

Sam suddenly sat up straight. "Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"About her file, her past".

Steve considered his question. Of course he had read a resume of her file before joining the Avengers and he had heard some rumors while working for SHIELD. He just never cared. He trusted her and he was sure that her heart was always on the right place. "She did not choose this life, Sam. Not like you and me, we had a choice and she didn`t".

Sam seemed to consider his words for a while but he soon relaxed. "If you trust her, I do too".

* * *

A man was lying on the metal bed. He seemed to be asleep, probably due to the high amount of painkillers that the doctors gave him. Every inch of his body but his eyes were covered in white bandages.

"How long before he is capable of fighting?". The man wearing the expensive gray suit asked without taking his eyes from the bandaged man.

"The new serum worked fine and his body has healed but his skin is still a problem. We need to do a few tests, so I`d say another couple of days".

"Great, doctor. We need him as soon as possible. Let me know when he is ready".

The doctor nodded his head and left the observation room. The other man kept his eyes on the injured one. "We can`t wait to have you back, Rumlow. We have big things planned for you. Hail HYDRA".

* * *

This is the last boring chapter, I promise! I just felt the need to close some doors before getting into the action part.

**I need to ask you this before I post the next chapter: CLINTASHA OR ROMANOGERS? :) Please leave a review telling me your preference!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you so much for the support on the last chapter! I read all your votes and already made my mind if it's going to be Romanogers or Clintasha but since I`m a bit evil I`m not going to tell you now and ruin the surprise. Look out for little clues in the next chapters ;)**

**I really hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

Clint Barton arrived at the safe house he shared with Natasha Romanoff in DC after a very long flight from Europe. He was exhausted from the sleep depravation and stress. The last three days had been absolutely crazy. He was in the middle of a very deep five months cover op in Zagreb when he heard the news about SHIELD going down.

His cover was intact since his file miraculously had not been released. That bought him enough time to leave the mission without being suspicious and buy a commercial airplane ticket back to the US. He had a pretty good idea about why his file was not leaked into the Internet and soon he would be able to confirm his suspicions.

Clint knew he had to come back because there was no point anymore in finishing the mission and mostly because he needed to see how Natasha was doing. He had seen the circus that the media was doing with the release of the files and wanted to be able to help.

He knocked on the door briefly before using his key to get inside the apartment. There was a chance that she had already left the safe house to find a new cover or that she had gone to Stark Tower but his instincts told him that she was here.

As he went thought the door he was greeted by the barrel of a gun. As swiftly as the gun came it went away.

"Clint!". Natasha said surprised as she immediately embraced him in a very un-Natasha way. After the initial shock he hugged her back, pressing his strong arms around her smaller body. He inhaled deeply, _'God, how much I missed her'_.

"Can I have your autograph miss super famous?". He joked lightly but she did not smile. _'Maybe it`s a little too early to be cracking jokes'_.

She let go from the embrace and distanced herself a little from him. For the first time in five months he was able to take in her appearance. She was a little thinner and paler. Her red hair was longer and the soft curls had been straightened. She had a light bruise forming on her chin but other than that she seemed mostly okay.

While he examined her he could feel her eyes doing the same to him.

"You look well". She said. "A little tired maybe but the Croatian sun did good to you, old man".

He laughed a little at that. Apparently she had not lost her sense of humor.

"And you look like shit, Nat".

She hit him on the arm. "Gee, thanks. You certainty knows how to make a woman feel good about herself, Barton".

"You know what I mean. When was the last time you had a good night of sleep?"

Natasha did not answer, just smiled sadly at him. "Come, we have a lot to talk about".

She locked the door again and pushed them inside the bedroom. Clint eyed the bottle of vodka by the floor but kept quiet. He threw his travel bag on his bed and sat down. He grabbed the rest of a half eaten sandwich from her bed and ate it in one single bite.

She lifted a red eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "I`m hungry".

After a couple more seconds she sighted and joined him on the bed.

"I saw the news from Zagreb and came as fast as I could. I… I need to say thank you, Nat. That was the most selfl…"

"You don`t need to thank me". She interjected and kept her eyes fixed on her hands.

"Yes, I do.

She looked up and stared at him with a controlled neutral expression. "No, you…"

"Dammit, Natasha. Just let me talk!". He grabbed her slightly calloused hand with his own. "You saved my ass big time. When I saw that SHIELD database was online I honestly thought I was dead but my name never came up and I was able to maintain my cover". He sighted loudly and ran his thumb over the top of her hand. "That was the most selfless act anyone has ever done to me, Tasha. You could have deleted your own file but you chose to delete mine instead and I know how much it cost you to do that".

He could see her defense walls going down for a minute before her eyes hardened again. "I did what was right. You were in danger and I owed you".

He let go of her hand and grabbed her shoulders looking straight into her eyes. "You owed me? Stop with the bullshit, Nat. You had already paid whatever debt you thought you had with me long ago and you know that. Quit being inflexible and let me thank you, you damn stubborn Russian".

She seemed to think about it for a little before relaxing and smiling lightly. "Ok".

"Great! That is better. And since we got over that, I say we celebrate!" He let go of her and grabbed the bottle of cheap vodka and the small glass from the floor. He filled the glass and handled it to her.

"Celebrate what? Loosing our jobs? Getting shot? Steve almost dying?".

He stopped breathing. "You got shot?"

She seemed to regret telling him that. "Winter Soldier. Got me on the left shoulder, through and through, no big deal".

He grabbed the oversized t-shirt she was wearing and unceremoniously pushed the hem to the side revealing a white bandage. He lifted the bandage lightly and saw the recently stitched wound underneath it.

"God dammit". He put the bandage on place again feeling angry at not being able to put an arrow through the Winter Soldier`s eye socket right now. That was the second time that bastard shot her.

"Forget it, Clint. I`m good now". She smiled at him reassuringly. "So, I believe we were deciding the reason for the toast?"

He decided to let the topic go for now. "What about we toast to having each other… being alive"

"Well, I guess I can drink to that". She clinked her glass to the bottle. "Salute!".

* * *

Natasha slept like a baby that night. Partly because of the alcohol and mostly because having Clint around was doing wonders for her worried state. Strike Team Delta always handled every dangerous situation they were put in. This one would be no exception.

She and Clint spent the next day talking to Maria and Fury trough a secure line, making plans for their next moves. Clint told her about the Zagreb mission and she filled him on the details of the SHIELD/HYDRA fall.

They stopped by the hospital to visit Steve by night. The super soldier was sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed as the doctors had given him a huge dose of tranquilizers. He was doing much better and the signs of the battle three days ago were almost gone. Natasha observed his expression from the uncomfortable wooden chair by his bed amused by the little amount of drool that was coming out of the corner of his mouth. She contemplated taking a photo with her phone.

Clint had just left to get some coffee for the both of them and Sam went home to take a shower and get some clothes. She adverted her eyes from the super soldier and fixed them on the window. It was a beautiful night full of stars on the sky. The hospital was unusually quiet for a Friday night and she felt herself relax a little.

She heard a door closing very loudly nearby. Natasha got worried since that whole wing of the ICU had been emptied in order to protect Steve. Maybe it was one of the Stark security team. Suddenly she felt the hair behind her neck stand up and felt a small chill on her spine. Something dangerous was about to happen. That same feeling had saved her life countless times before so she decided to not ignore it. Clint liked to call it her 'spider-sense'.

She instantly shoved Steve`s arm in order for him to wake up but he didn`t even flinch. She tried harder and finally he opened drowsily his ocean blue eyes. He began to speak her name but she put a finger on his mouth. "Shh...".

He complied and stared at her with a confused expression. Trying to be as quiet as possible she got up from her seat and walked towards the door, her gun on her hand. She put her ear to the wooden door and listened. After a couple of seconds she hurried back to the room signaling for Steve to get up.

Steve pushed the pain away and managed to stand on his feet wearing only the thin hospital gown and his underwear. He looked pale and in pain but she pretended not to notice. Natasha grabbed his shield from the side of his bed and handled it to him silently thanking the CIA for recovering it from the bottom of the Potomac River.

They stayed by the bed trying to not make a single noise. After waiting almost five minutes remaining absolutely still and nothing happening they got up and walked towards the door of the room, Steve in front using his shield as protection.

"We need to find Clint". She whispered in his ear and he nodded his head. He signaled 'one, two, three' with his hands and opened the door enough for them to pass. She peered out into the hallway quickly and saw no one. The corridor was empty, not a single patient or doctor around. Stark bodyguards that were supposed to guard Steve`s door were nowhere to be seen.

She grabbed Steve`s arm as they exited the room with caution and started walking slowly towards the stairs direction, their backs pressed to the wall and Steve`s shield in front of them. Suddenly Natasha felt a small change in the air and roughly pushed both of them to the ground. A single bullet passed right where they were standing and hit the wall behind. She instantly fired two shots from the floor in the direction of the shooter and watched the man fall dead.

"Nat…" Steve pointed in the direction of the dead soldier, he was wearing a black uniform with a symbol of a skull with six tentacles on his shoulder. "Hydra"

She nodded to him and helped him get up. He was still a little drowsy from the sedatives the doctors had given him and a thin layer of sweat covered his face. They hurried towards the stairs but before they could reach the door she abruptly stopped. Something wasn`t right.

Two seconds later the door busted open and a group of agents stepped into the corridor wearing the same dark uniform as the dead one. They opened fire as soon as they saw their fallen companion and Natasha`s gun on her hand. She pushed Steve`s shield in front of them. The bullets ricocheted on the metal and hit a glass door nearby making a cascade of broken glass hit the floor. They walked back a few steps looking for a place to take cover.

Natasha fired three shots in the direction of the closest man and hit him straight on the head splashing blood at the hospital wall. He fell soundly to the ground and his companions fired again in retaliation. Steve was doing his best to cover both of them with the shield but he was clearly using all the remaining of his strength just to hold it in place as the bullets vibrated upon impact. He would be no use if it came to hand to hand combat.

Natasha swore quietly in Russian, pushed her gun into Steve`s hand and without warning sprung out of the shield protection running in the direction of the enemies. Steve had no time to protest. She was really fast and the soldiers had no time to shoot in her direction before she landed the first kick. Simultaneously she threw a hidden knife in the direction of another man catching him on his tight.

She heard a gun shot and saw with the corner of her eye a man fall to the ground. _'Thanks, Steve'_. She had no time to recover her breath as a man tackled her petite body. The back of her head hit the linoleum floor with a loud thud. Without even registering the pain she threw a punch towards the man face. She heard a cracking noise as her fist landed on his nose and blood started to cascade on her. He was distracted enough by the pain to not be able to prevent her next punch. She hit him on the broken nose again and pushed him off her. Steve shot the man on the head as soon as her body was away from his.

Just as she got to her feet another man attacked her with a kick. She got his feet middle air and roughly pushed him away making him fall on the ground. She was about to knock him out with another kick when she heard a noise from Steve`s direction. He was fighting the man that had a knife to his tight. The man landed a strong punch on Steve`s face and Natasha started to move in their direction. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her left shoulder as the man on the floor got up and kicked her.

The kick was strong and hit precisely where her bullet wound was. It was not fully cicatrized yet and she hissed loudly as the pain was almost unbearable. The man took advantage of her distraction and punched her hard on the side of her face. She fell to the ground a little disoriented and instantly the man climbed over her projecting another punch. She caught his fist before it landed on her jaw and forcibly twisted it until it broke. The man yelled and she quickly grabbed his neck and twisted it. He fell dead on top of her.

She heard a loud noise and turned in time to see Steve knock the other man with astonishing force to the ground, dive for her gun and shoot him on the head. Steve`s skin was ghostly white and he had a cut on his upper lip, but other than that he seemed mostly intact. His legs were shaking a little so he hold on the wall to keep himself up. His eyes searched for hers and when they connected all she could see was relieve and pain.

A ding noise nearby made both of them jump. Natasha pushed the dead man body aside and stood up in less than a second. Steve grabbed his shield from the floor and pointed the gun to the elevator. As the metallic doors opened a man stepped out of it, two cup of coffees on his hands and his mouth hanging open as he contemplated the scene in front of him: an obviously weak Captain America dressed only in a thin hospital gown hiding behind his shield with a trembling gun on his hands, a lot of blood and glass all over the floor, some dead man and a redhead Russian spy covered in blood ready to attack if needed.

"Woah, looks like I just missed all the fun". Clint grinned deviously.

* * *

They made their way out of the hospital before the police arrived. Clint was driving the stolen car from the parking lot as Natasha sat on the backseat holding Rodgers head on her lap. The super soldier was barely awake, as the fight had taken away all the remaining of his strength. She kept running her fingers slowly trough his blonde hair – a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Clint.

"Sleep, Steve. You`re safe". She told the super soldier with a very soft voice.

"Nat". The Captain breathed out before falling unconscious.

Clint observed with curiosity from the front seat. He didn`t know that Natasha and Rodgers were that close.

"Do you want to go to Stark tower? I can make the trip in 3 hours". He asked.

She contemplated the thought before answering. "No. Steve needs to rest right now. Let`s lay low on the safe house and tomorrow we go to Stark".

"Fine".

* * *

The man in the gray suit watched the footage of the hospital shooting from a laptop in his office. He smiled watching Steve Rodgers shoot an agent in the head.

"It couldn`t have been more perfect".

His subordinated smiled too. "I agree, sir. The editing process will take one more hour at least".

"Great job, agent".

The technician nodded respectfully and left. The man in the gray suit waited for the door to close and put his hands together on his lap. A vicious smile took over his features. _'It definitely couldn`t have been more perfect'_.

* * *

**Oh God. That was my first time writing an action scene. How was it? **

**Please review and let me know if you`re liking the fanfic :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I`m sorry for the long wait! I got a little demotivated.**

* * *

Clint and Natasha half carried half dragged the heavy super soldier out of the stolen car and inside the building as Steve felt too weak to walk alone. Clint opened the door of the apartment with his free hand as the other one supported half of Steve`s weight. Natasha was struggling a little to support the other half since she was much smaller than the two men. They dropped Steve at the closest bed inside the bedroom.

Steve opened his eyes and looked around when he felt the comfortable mattress under his body. "Thank you".

"Don`t worry, Cap". Clint said with a small smile trying to sound reassuring. "Try to rest. We are going to need you to be strong tomorrow".

Steve exhaled deeply. He was feeling absolutely drained after the fight since his body was still recovering from the SHIELD/HYDRA battle and his mind was still fuzzy because of the huge dose of painkillers.

"I`m going to check your bandages, Steve. Don`t move". Natasha shared a furtive look with Clint and started to remove Steve`s hospital gown. Clint helped her and they got rid of it quickly leaving the Captain only in his underwear. The soldier blushed deeply and Natasha looked at him amused.

"Relax, Cap. We`re not going to molest you. Well, at least I won`t… but I can`t say the same for Clint".

Steve blushed even more and Clint threw a dirty look at her. "Hilarious".

They lifted the white bandages and were mesmerized to see that the wounds from the previous battle had almost healed.

"God, I wish I healed that quickly". Natasha whispered under her breath and Clint agreed. He hated hospitals with all his heart.

"You are going to be good as new after a long night of sleep, Cap". The archer told Steve with a friendly pat on his arm.

Natasha covered Steve`s body with a thin sheet, got a change of clothes from her bag and went straight to the bathroom to wash away the blood from the HYDRA soldier that had fallen on her. Clint waited for her to close the bathroom door before speaking.

"How are you feeling?".

"Like a truck hit me. But I`ll feel better after I sleep a little".

"Good. We have a big day tomorrow". Clint got up from the mattress and walked towards the door. "You know… Natasha seems very fond of you".

Steve blushed again. That was an awkward conversation to have with Barton. Steve had noticed that Natasha opened up to him after their talk at Sam`s house but he never thought anything out of it. Wasn`t she with Clint? He noticed that she was wearing an arrow necklace when they were on the run from SHIELD. Was it a present from him? After the NY battle Tony had asked the spies about the true meaning of their partnership but they dismissed the question harshly and the Avengers never dared to ask again. Bruce had a bet with Tony and Thor about it but Steve never bothered to join them. "Uhh… I… I don`t…".

"Oh, don`t worry. It`s all good". A genuine smile covered Clint's features and Steve relaxed a little. "She doesn`t have many friends. Having a tough past can do that to you as you have a difficult time trusting people. I should know since I have the same problem… Anyway, I`m happy that you managed to get through her thick walls".

"I`m _really_ glad too". Steve blurted out without thinking. He froze at the tone of his little confession. He put too much effort in pronouncing the "really" part so it sounded different from what he meant. His eyes tentatively darted to Clint`s face trying to figure out his thoughts but got nothing from the archer`s neutral expression. _'Damn spies'_.

Sensing the awkward tension between them he felt the sudden need to point something to Clint. "You are still her closest friend".

Clint laughed a little at Steve`s awkwardness and childish comment. "Yeah, _nobody_ is closer to her than me". He said putting too much effort on the '_nobody_' just like Steve had done moments ago. That gave the words spoken a special intonation suggesting that there was a deep meaning behind them. But before Steve could process it Clint shot a devilish smile in his direction and left the room.

* * *

Clint prepared a few turkey sandwiches on the improvised kitchen as Natasha took her shower and Steve rested. He smiled as he remembered his talk with Steve a few minutes ago. It was fun to mess a little with the good old Captain America. The guy was just too much of a boy scout to sense when someone was just teasing him.

Of course Clint was glad that Natasha had opened up to someone, especially when that someone was as good as Steve Rodgers. Clint new that she would not get romantically attached to the guy. Captain America might have all the women in America swooning for him - Clint even noticed how ice princess Maria Hill reacted to the guy - but Natasha was different. She preferred her man a little more… real, more damaged, more… like Clint himself. She would not fall for a good two shoes like Rodgers… right?

Having that little doubt made his mind reminisce through the memories of their past together. Clint had detached himself from her after Loki invaded his mind. He needed time to put himself back together and chose to do it alone. Was that a mistake? When he got better and came back to SHIELD Fury had already assigned Natasha to partner with Steve and Clint rarely got to see her anymore. He missed her, he missed having her as his partner, and he missed what they had. When he saw that SHIELD`s files had been dumped online and that she had protected his identity after he had run away from her he wanted to scream. He needed to talk to her, to apologize, to…

A sudden smell of coconut body wash impregnated the air as Natasha entered the kitchen and snatched one of the sandwiches Clint was making.

He pretended to be mad at her lack of manners. "You`re welcome".

She arched an eyebrow at him and took a bite of the sandwich. She moaned a little and took another bite. "You always made the best sandwiches".

Clint smiled. "Yeah, but it`s kind of sad that my sandwiches are the only exception of our combined horrible cooking skills".

Natasha was about to answer when the ring from her phone interrupted her. She snatched it from her pocket and answered after checking that it was Stark`s number calling.

"Tony?"

"Red, we have a problem. Can you, Legolas and Capsicle be on the roof of your building tomorrow at six a.m.? Jarvis already got your location and I`ll be arriving with a helicopter to get you". Tony`s voice was serious and agitated.

She tensed and looked at Clint that was hanging by waiting for information. "Sure. What problem?"

"I`m sending some footage to your phone. You guys better check it as it`s currently being televised to the entire world. See ya tomorrow". He hung up.

Natasha signaled to Clint come closer and played the video that Stark had sent her. It was the footage of Steve shooting the last man from the hospital straight on the head. The headline was "Captain America kills 22 year old innocent CIA agent – the man left a pregnant wife and a two year old son".

"Shit".

* * *

**I`m having a little writer`s block and your words and advices could help me a lot! So p**lease review and tell me your thoughts!**:) Thank you so much!**


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